1881).] on the Civilisation of Ancient India, Ma 



his edict inscription engraved on the rock at Sbahbazgayhi (Kapurda- 

 giri) in the Gandhara country. The use of this alphabet never became 

 general in the interior of India, and certainly died out there altogether 

 at an early date, not much subsequent to the Christian era. 



These facts have been utilized by Sir A. Cunningham as an argu- 

 ment for the early date of the Gandhara sculptures, but the argument 

 seems to me devoid of all force. When ho wrote his Report the latest 

 known date for an Arian inscription W&H the year 1'2"2, recorded in the 

 Pmjfar document, and this date was then believed to refer to the era 

 known by the name of Vikrama, B. C. 57. Sir A. Cunningham, therefore, 

 argued "As no Indian letters have been found on any of them, I con- 

 clude that the whole of the sculptures must belong to the two centuries 

 before and after the Christian era, as the Arian characters are known to 

 have fallen into disuse about A. D. 100 or a little later." 



No one now believes that the Indo-Scythian era is the same as that 

 of Vikrama, and most archaeologists hold, though conclusive proof is still 

 wanting, that the Indo-Scythian inscriptions are dated in the S'aka era 

 of A. D. 78. If this correction be applied, Sir A. Cunningham's argu- 

 ment will mean that all the Gandhara sculptures mnst be prior to 

 A. D. 250. 



One premise of this argument has been destroyed by the discovery 

 of an Avian inscription dated 274, equivalent to A. I). 352, if referred 

 to the Saka era. That inscription at the present moment happens to 

 bo the latest known, but there is no reason why one still later should 

 not be found. The absence of Indian letters on the Gandhara sculp- 

 tures simply proves that the Indian alphabet was not used in that part 

 of the country, which fact was known already for an earlier period from 

 the existence of Asoka's Shahbazgayhi inscription. 



The Arian character never took root in India Proper, and its early 

 total disuse there gives no indication as to the date of its disuse in its 

 original home in the countries on the north-west frontier. I should 

 not be surprised, if an Arian inscription dated as late as A. D. 500 should 

 be discovered in Afghanistan or the Western Panjab. 



The Gandhara sculptures can be proved, on other grounds, to be 

 earlier than A. D. 500, np to which date the Arian character may well 

 have contained in nse in the country where they occur. The fact, 

 therefore, that the Gandhara inscriptions are all in the Arian character, 

 does not help in any way to fix the date of the sculptures, much less 

 does it prove that they are earlier either than A. D. 100 or A. D. 250. 



Among the inscriptions in Sir A. Cunningham's list those from 

 Zoda, Ohind, Takht-i-Bahi, Panjtiir, Saddo, and Sahri-Bahlol, are not 

 closely associated with Greeco-Buddhist sculptures. The valueless Saddo 



